


A New Moon

by orphan_account



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Explicit Language, Gen, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, More tags will be added later, Vampire Hunters, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, kind of crack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-05-14 08:11:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19269229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Chanhee is a bored vampire in a city full of his supernatural friends. After feeling like every night will always be the same, he finds himself tangled up with a handsome vampire hunter.OrVampire Chanhee has a crush on Vampire Hunter Kevin who is probably the worst vampire hunter ever, and everyone is trying their best not to judge him for it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write something funny to relieve some stress. I hope you enjoy it!

Chanhee sat on the rooftop of the Nightbrook Towers, his feet dangling off the side. It was cold and windy up there — almost windy enough to drown out the sounds of the world below. 

In a city home to the supernatural and their friends, the nights were an endless party complete with music, booze, dancing, and blood, and he was at the center of it all. Chanhee was a vampire, and, truth be told, he was bored to death.

The problem with every night being a huge celebration was that after a couple of centuries, it had become the exact same party over and over again making for an incredibly dull afterlife.

He stretched his arms and plunged himself off the roof. Dozens of stories off the ground he fell, the wind whipping through his lavender and gold printed silk shirt. He smiled and closed his eyes. The world was quiet and dark like it was supposed to be. Seconds away from hitting the asphalt below, he flipped and landed with grace. He straightened his clothes.

“Hey, that’s my trick!” Hyunjoon called out, his arm around the waist of his midnight snack.

“And you look much better doing it,” Chanhee winked.

Hyunjoon smiled a gummy smile, his fangs slipping out over his bottom lip.

“Why don’t you take that inside.”

“I don’t want to,” Hyunjoon whined.

Chanhee fixed his hair in a car mirror and left. Why should he care who saw anything around there? What were they going to do, call the police? He chuckled to himself and headed to the bar.

He may have been bored in an existential immortal kind of way, but he was an expert at keeping himself entertained. Even if he was living in what was essentially a fishbowl, he liked to mix things up. But like literally mix things up.

When he needed something to do, he liked to play bartender. As hospitable as he was, he was still, in fact, a vampire, and therefore, he would not nor could not take orders from anyone. Not even drink orders.

If a customer ordered a beer, they got tequila. If a customer ordered a mixed drink, they got tequila but with some kind of fruit juice. If a customer ordered a Sex on the Beach, they got their fingers broken. Chanhee didn’t know that was the name of a drink. 

And if he was really bored, he would just pour whatever was behind the bar into glasses and pass them out to whomever was unlucky enough to walk by.

That night, Jacob and Sunwoo sat at the bar to visit while Chanhee worked his magic. It was a gamble for them, but he was their best friend and it was important to support their friend’s endeavors.

“Try this,” Chanhee said, sliding over a mysterious glowing green drink to Jacob. “It’ll put hair on your chest.”

Jacob’s lips thinned. “Thanks.”

“I call it ‘The Howler’.”

“Real funny,” his nostrils flared.

Sunwoo thought it was hilarious.

Chanhee waited anxiously as Jacob took a reluctant sip of his concoction. He made a sour expression and coughed. Sunwoo shook his head to signal Jacob.

“Damn it, I thought I was onto something,” Chanhee sighed. “Guess I’ll have to try again!”

Jacob groaned. 

Sunwoo took the glass and sniffed it. He shrugged. He took a sip, not expecting much, and spat it out. “Ugh! This takes like shi-”.

“Excuse me,” a customer said. “Could I get something to drink?”

Chanhee was annoyed that his experiment was interrupted, but when he saw the stranger's face, he heard music. Not the repetitive club music that played in that place, but like a chorus of angels. He finally understood what Smash Mouth or The Monkees or whoever sang it first was talking about.

“Are you sure?” Sunwoo asked with concern, slurring a bit from his swollen tongue. 

“Shut up,” Chanhee sang through gritted teeth. He turned to the customer, smiling sweetly. “What would you like?”

The customer sat at the bar in a leather jacket and a black turtleneck like a bad 80’s heartthrob or a detective from a martial arts movie. His hair was dyed a dark hibiscus, dangly celestial earrings hung from his ears, and his teeth sparkled like pearls.

Chanhee was thrilled. What kind of drink would he order? What was his story? Was he a beer drinking rocker? A wine sipping artist? A bourbon enthusiast writer? Maybe he just wanted a water because he liked to keep a clear head because he was  _ responsible.  _ The possibilities were endless, and it was so exciting. 

The customer’s eyes darted across the bottles. 

“Could I get a, uhhhh, cosmo?”

Chanhee blinked. “One cosmopolitan coming right up!”

He broke out the vodka, the triple sec, some cranberry juice, and a lime and poured the contents into a shaker with ice. He shook them together and threw in some twists and a few flips of his icy blonde hair for show.

“Wait, you’re actually making it?” Jacob asked.

Chanhee smiled at the customer, ignoring him.

“You  _ know _ how to make it?” Sunwoo added, dumbfounded. 

“Of course I do! I’m a professional!” He said cheerfully before lowering his voice. “I’ll stake you.”

The customer didn’t seem to notice.

“Here you go!” Chanhee said, handing the customer the drink he made with extra care. This time he was a different kind of anxious.

The customer pulled out a leatherbound journal and opened it to a blank page.

Chanhee, Sunwoo, and Jacob looked at each other, confused. The drink sat untouched.

“How is it?” Chanhee blurted out.

The customer looked up, surprised, before noticing the other two staring at him with wide eyes. He smiled awkwardly and tasted it.

“Mmm!” He said. “It’s good.”

“Really??” Sunwoo asked.

The customer paused, not sure what to say.

“Here’s your check,” Chanhee said, sliding a piece of paper to Sunwoo and Jacob that said  **GET OUT.**

Sunwoo saw it and grinned. “Put it on our tab. Let’s go, Jacob.”

“Why?”

“We’re got that thing…” Sunwoo said, putting on his jacket. He pulled Jacob away.

“Where are we going?” Jacob asked, still oblivious to the million and one signals Chanhee was sending.

After they left, Chanhee could get back to what was really important — this guy he knew absolutely nothing about.

He leaned on his elbows with his head propped in his hands and watched the customer drink the drink he made expertly and make notes in his journal. Chanhee shooed away anyone who tried to bother him into making them a smoothie of whatever it was that boring people drank so he could devote his full attention.

He watched him carefully, taking note of what he liked — the curve of his nose, his sharp brows, the shape of his mouth.

“What’s your name?” Chanhee asked all of the sudden.

“Kevin,” he said, startled.

“Kevin…” he repeated, digesting the name like it was an ancient spell from a language long lost to time. “Are you… new around here?”

“Yeah,” he said, closing his book.

“What are you in town for?”

“Business.”

“What kind of business?”

“My business.”

Chanhee bit his tongue. This energy was something he wasn’t used to. Sure, this  _ Kevin  _ wouldn’t know who he was or how special and important he was, but could he not see how beautiful Chanhee was?

There were marble statues in Rome carved in his likeness! Museums held paintings with angels (and some devils, depending on the artist) with his face on them! He once started a cult of crazed villagers who thought he was a god simply because he felt like it! His feathery soft hair? His flawless skin? His deceptively strong, delicate frame? He gave  _ himself  _ chills. 

“I’m sorry,” Kevin said. “That was rude. I just can’t really talk about it.”

Chanhee relaxed.

“And my sleep schedule is kind of fucked up lately,” he added.

“It’s okay,” Chanhee said. It was only okay because no one had been around to see the blatant disrespect. Next time he would have to pay…

Chanhee shook himself. “Not sleeping well, eh? I could make you something to help.”

He would have to text one of the witches so that he didn’t accidentally poison him or anything, but there were enough herbs and things around the bar to pull something together.

Kevin smiled. “No, thank you, I have to stay up late tonight.”

He finished his drink and packed his journal into his bag to leave.

“Thanks for the drink,” he said. “Oh, what do I owe you?”

“It’s on the house,” Chanhee said. He had always wanted to say that to someone.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” he smiled. “Welcome to Nightbrook.”

 

Chanhee watched Kevin walk out of the bar, looking over his shoulder and clutching his bag before leaving.  _ That’s weird. _

“Final call,” he said distantly to no one in particular.

He wandered after him, overcome by curiosity. He didn’t care whether or not they kept drinking or left or burned the place down. Whoever it was that actually worked there could deal with it.

Jacob and Sunwoo saw him following Kevin in a trance.

“Should we… follow him?” Jacob asked, concerned.

“Nah, he’ll be fine,” Sunwoo said, relaxing on the couch. “He’ll call if he needs us.”

Chanhee left the bar in pursuit. He felt a chill and shivered, almost turning back.  _ Knock it off. You’re a vampire, stupid.  _

It didn’t feel like a regular hunt, though. It felt creepy and dangerous. 

Kevin rounded the corner into an alley. Chanhee followed him. Kevin walked where the light didn’t touch.

_ Interesting,  _ he thought. Someone who wasn’t afraid of the dark… Chanhee was intrigued, but also annoyed. 

It’s not like there was room for crime and other mischief when the streets were literally crawling with supernatural creatures, but did he not have even an ounce of fear walking around like this by himself? Was he not even a little bit concerned with his own life? What if someone robbed him? Or worse? Chanhee was stressed.

He followed him with catlike grace and light, soundless footsteps. He found himself getting excited. 

The thrill of the hunt was all coming back to him at once. His razor sharp teeth protruded, piercing his lip. He tasted his blood and became hungry.

Kevin never once looked behind him. It was too easy. He didn’t want to eat him, but he couldn’t help himself. It was just all too exciting.

Kevin turned another corner.

Chanhee’s heart raced. It was time.

He rounded the corner and lunged. Kevin splashed a cold liquid in his face. Chanhee shrieked.

“Oh my God!” he yelled. “My shirt!”

Kevin jumped back. “Your shirt?! You mean it didn’t work?!”

“It’s Versace, you walking bag of pork skins! What was that?!”

“It’s holy water,” he said, wiping Chanhee’s shirt. “I thought you were a vampire.”

“A  _ what?”  _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chanhee and Kevin have a intense moment after Kevin acccuses him of being a vampire, and he enlists his two best friends to help him figure out what to do about the new hunter in town.

Chanhee stood in the dark alleyway, dripping wet. His fangs retracted back into his mouth. He felt an emotion creep up from his stomach into his throat that was too raw and too human to push out. 

Fear? This was his city, his world, and there was nothing to be afraid of except for one thing — death.

Fear of death motivated humankind to do amazing things. He himself watched the world turn from superstition to science and from hovels to metropolises, but for vampires, death was a missed fate. It was something he didn’t have to think of anymore not for thousands of years.

He stood there dripping with cold water, the fabric of his shirt clung to skin. He was alive, but how long would Kevin be?

“A what?” 

Had he heard wrong? Perhaps. Perhaps this was a practical joke.

“A vampire,” Kevin said, visibly shaking. Chanhee could hear Kevin’s heart pounding.  _ No, not a joke. _

Chanhee steadied himself. If he made it too obvious, he might give himself away. Although he was undeniably curious.

“Like Edward Cullen??”

“No, like a real vampire like Bela Lugosi or Keanu.”

“The guy from the Matrix?” 

“Yeah, Neo.”

Chanhee rubbed his temple. He felt himself getting a headache.

“And what could have possibly made you think that?”

Kevin wrung his hands and looked at his feet. “The way you were looking at me…”

Chanhee swallowed. Was he blushing? Could vampires blush? He idly reached up to touch his cheek.  _ Nope, still cold. _

“And you were following me,” Kevin added. “Why  _ were _ you following me?”

Chanhee froze.  _ Because I was hungry. _

“Because you looked lost,” he eased into an explanation and gauged Kevin’s reaction. “Since you’re new in town, I wanted to make sure you made it home safe.”

Kevin’s cheeks flushed. “I can take care of myself.”

_ That’s still up for debate. _

They stood like that for a few minutes. Chanhee not sure what to say, and Kevin not wanting to be rude and walk away.

“Well,” Chanhee finally said. “I guess I should get going then since you’re safe.”

“Yeah,” Kevin said.

Chanhee turned on his heel and left in a manner short of fleeing. He couldn’t believe this. Why did he ever want anything to be interesting? Boring never lead to embarrassment in back alleys. 

_ Oh my god if anyone finds out about this I will have to move. I’m going to pack my things and move to where no one can find me like Antarctica or Siberia or something. I need to get Sunwoo to get me one of those business class tickets. I can’t fly coach! Wait, then Sunwoo would know where I’m going. And he would ask questions. Nope, nope, nope. _

“Wait!” Kevin called out.

Chanhee stopped, his heels scraping the ground.

He twirled around with his signature vampire lord flair. “Yes?”

“I was wondering if I could take you to dinner,” Kevin said. “You know, as an apology for ruining your fancy shirt…”

Chanhee swallowed. “You don’t have to do that.”

Kevin stepped towards him. Chanhee took a step back unconsciously, not used to anyone approaching him with that kind of intensity. He had wild eyes and now seemed fearless despite his hands shaking earlier. 

“I want to,” he said. 

“Oh,” Chanhee had to think fast. He wasn’t sure what to do or what to say. 

“How about around 5:30?” Kevin suggested.

Chanhee thought about the sunset and wasn’t sure he would make it. “What about 6:30? I have something to take care of.”

“That works for me,” Kevin smiled. “See you then.”

 

Chanhee and Kevin parted ways in the alley. Kevin went, presumably, back to his hotel if he was staying at one, and Chanhee needed to get somewhere private.

He took to the fire escape and pulled himself up, soundlessly leaping and swinging from the rusted bars up to the top of a nearby building. 

The roof tops were safe. He could clear his head. He could figure out step two. He paced around for a bit before pulling out his phone and pulling up the usual contact.

“We have a problem,” he said.

“What’s wrong?” Sunwoo said, with a full mouth. Chanhee heard him swallow. “Do you need us to come out there?”

“No,” he said, lingering.

Sunwoo waited. Chanhee ignored the crunching over the line as he thought. 

“Meet me at home,” he said, finally. “I’ll explain when we get there.”

Chanhee hung up the phone and ran across the rooftops. He leapt from one building to the next.  _ See. I’m graceful. I’m cunning. I’m amazing. Just look at me.  _

He tried very hard to convince himself that he wasn’t a fumbling idiot who had only just then made a devastating mistake. That wasn’t him. He didn’t make mistakes.

The last rooftop was decorated with fairy lights, a comfortable seating area, and a large collection of plants that bloom only at night. He opened the door to a small staircase that lead to a penthouse apartment on the top floor. 

Sunwoo and Jacob were already on the big black sofa waiting for him. Sunwoo was stretched back, relaxed, but Jacob was leaning forward bouncing his knee.

“Good, you’re here,” Chanhee said.

“You’re all wet,” Jacob said.

“Mm,” he said, pretending that it wasn’t a big deal. He unbuttoned his shirt to replace it with something less uncomfortable. Jacob turned away, embarrassed to watch. Sunwoo yawned.

Chanhee pulled a chair over and sat in front of them. Sunwoo sat up in attention.

“What’s the problem,” he asked.

Chanhee cracked his neck. “We may have a vampire hunter in town.”

“A what?” 

“A  _ what?” _

Chanhee nodded. “I don’t know for sure, but I think he figured out what I am.”

“That probably wasn’t very hard,” Sunwoo said. “You were slobbering all over yourself when you followed him out there like a giant, pointy, bloodhound.”

Chanhee glared at him. Sunwoo blinked.

Jacob cleared his throat.

“Anyways,” Chanhee said. “I’m not sure yet, but when I followed him to-.”

“To eat him,” Sunwoo said.

“... to make sure he got home okay,” he continued, annoyed. “He reacted negatively and called me a vampire.”

He hoped he could successfully leave out some of the more embarrassing details.

“Why would that make you assume he’s a vampire hunter,” Jacob asked. 

“Because he’s new and he knows too much,” Sunwoo said. “If he was just some groupie, he would have tried to get on Chanhee’s good side at the bar. He would have buttered him up a little not blatantly ignore him like he was clearly doing.”

Chanhee held back from kicking him in the shin. “I don’t think he's a very good hunter, though. He’s probably new to it.”

“Oh?” Sunwoo asked. “Why do you think that?”

“He threw holy water on me,” Chanhee said bitterly.

Sunwoo snorted.

“What’s so funny?” Jacob asked, concerned that Chanhee might have been hurt.

“Holy water doesn’t work,” Sunwoo said, realizing why Chanhee had earlier changed clothes. He held back an amused grin. “It’s a myth.”

“What about garlic?”

“Have you ever seen Sunwoo turn down garlic bread,” Chanhee said. “This is serious.”

“We are being serious,” Sunwoo said. “So what are we going to do about this  _ problem _ ?”

Chanhee thought about it. The easiest thing to do, in a normal scenario, would be to kill him, but a vampire can’t just  _ kill  _ a hunter. If it was that easy there wouldn’t be any hunters running around in the first place. 

Actually, when he thought about it, Chanhee had never met a hunter in the wild before. A part of him thought they were just a scary bedtime story told to little vampires to keep them from getting into trouble, but a real hunter? In Nightbrook? Impossible. And yet…

“I’m going to have to investigate,” Chanhee resolved. “I’ll ask him some questions and see if he’s the real thing or not.”

“And how are you ever going to have a chance to do that?”

“I’ve got a date with him tomorrow night,” Chanhee blurted out. His lips thinned. Sunwoo looked at him in disbelief.

“You have a  _ date… _ with the  _ hunter _ ,” Sunwoo rubbed his temples. “Do tell how you managed that one.”

Chanhee looked away and mumbled, “He wanted to make up for ruining my shirt…”

“What was that?” Sunwoo leaned in with a hand cupped around his ear. “I can’t hear you over the sound of your raging ancient vampire hormones.”

“I’m just letting him apologize! I swear! There’s nothing else to it!”

“Your shirt isn’t even ruined,” Sunwoo said. “Are you sure about this?”

“It’s going to be fine,” Chanhee assured him. “I’m just going to get more information. It’s about keeping you all safe.”

“Of course it is,” Sunwoo said, but the way he looked through Chanhee made him shiver.

“Do you want us to come with you? Like you’re an undercover agent and we’re the backup?” Jacob offered. 

Chanhee had forgotten he was there for a moment. 

“That’s okay,” he said. “I can handle myself. Actually, I think after the date I’m going to pay your boyfriend a visit. Let him know we’re coming over.”

Jacob nodded, looking grim.

They hung out for a bit in Chanhee’s apartment, but as it reached the early hours of the morning, the three started to get tired. Sunwoo ended up falling asleep on the sofa while watching TV, and Jacob went back to his place down the street. Chanhee fell asleep in his bed and dreamed about a hunt except this time, he was the prey.

 

Chanhee woke in a cold sweat. It was 2 p.m, and he needed to get ready. Sunwoo was gone, he saw. He probably woke up sometime during the day and went back to his apartment a few floors down. 

He washed his face and checked himself out in the mirror.  _ Perfect as always.  _ He patted toner and moisturizer into his skin. It was dry and lacking its usual bounce. He needed to feed, but he would worry about that after his date. He didn’t want to show up smelling like breakfast, not when there was important information to investigate. 

He pulled some outfits from his closet. 

“It’s too cold for summer fling vibes,” he said to himself, tossing a bright yellow floral shirt to the side. “All black would be too obvious.”

He picked up a white button up shirt, “At least with this one, if he throws water on me again, my perfectly toned physique will be revealed through the delicate curves of the fabric.”

“Perfectly toned physique?” A voice said. “Delicate curves of the fabric?”

Chanhee ignored him. “I thought you left.”

“I did,” Sunwoo said. “But then I remembered you probably haven’t had time to eat.”

He handed Chanhee a glass jar full of a warm red liquid.

Chanhee turned it away. “I don’t want to smell like blood.”

Sunwoo pushed it back towards him. “Then eat a breath mint.”

“A mason jar?” Chanhee inspected the glass.

“It’s rustic,” Sunwoo shrugged.

Chanhee took a sip. It was luke warm and chunky. He grimaced. “Whoever you took this from needs to watch their cholesterol.” 

Although he made time to complain, Chanhee drank it to the last drop. His head spun, and then the room became clear.

“Better?”

“Much,” he said, wiping his mouth.

“Wear the white shirt,” Sunwoo said. “The black one makes you look like Dracula.” 

Chanhee left to change in private. When he came back, Sunwoo was hanging his clothes back in the closet.

“You don’t have to do that,” he said.

Sunwoo shrugged and left. “Have fun on your date. And try not to get yourself killed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I’m sorry it took a while to update; I probably re-wrote this chapter five times over the last couple of weeks.


	3. I Love Garlic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chanhee and Kevin go on their first date, and Chanhee loses his last two braincells.

Kevin must not have been trying to impress him at all, Chanhee thought. Compared to his fabulous and expensive taste, the restaurant Kevin took him to was uninspired and off the beaten path but in a “it’s because no one goes there” kind of way. He even had to get into a cab to get there. He couldn’t even remember the last time he took a cab. Vampires don’t pay fares! But for Kevin, the cute, clumsy, and mysterious vampire hunter, he endured it.

The restaurant was a little Italian place wedged in between two clothing outlets at a strip mall far from his booming nightlife metropolis, and it was painstakingly human. The only thing magical about the eatery was that they had managed to use the same red and white checkered tablecloths for more than three generations. 

It smelled nice though. When they walked in he was greeted by the scent of warm bread, ripe tomatoes, and decent olive oil. Even if the food was putrid, the important thing was that he was on a date with Kevin.  _ And I have to find out what the hell he’s doing here. But also it’s because I’m on a date with Kevin. _

They sat across from each other divided by a basket of warm bread and a candlestick that made him feel nostalgic for the old days before fire was a big no no. 

Kevin was wearing his turtleneck but with a nice suit jacket, and he had switched his earrings out with tiny silver hoops. He paired nicely with what Sunwoo had picked out for Chanhee earlier. He would have to remember to let Sunwoo know he did a good job if he felt like it later.

Kevin tore off a piece of bread and dipped it into a dish of olive oil with roasted garlic and herbs floating around it.

“Do you like garlic?” Kevin broke the ice.

“I love garlic,” Chanhee said.  _ Does he still suspect that I’m a vampire?  _ “I put it in everything! Can’t live without it!”

He also took a piece of bread and dipped it.  _ See how  _ human  _ I am. You don’t have to stake me. I’m a real human being who eats garlic and dies of old age. _

The air between them was quiet and awkward. What would they talk about? Chanhee knew what he  _ wanted  _ to talk about, but it’s not like it was going to be the easiest topic in the world to sneak in even with his shrewd conversational skills.

_ Hi, Kevin! Thanks for asking me out! How do you know I drink the blood of innocents while looking amazing doing it? Oh? You saw pictures on facebook? Who was it? Hyunjun? I’ll let you have that one.  _

The waiter came and took their orders. They picked out a couple of pastas to share with the promise of dessert for later. 

“Would sirs care to see our wine selection,” the waiter presented a laminated menu with spaghetti sauce dried on it.

“I think I’ll have a glass of Chardonnay,” Kevin said, looking quite proud of himself.

“And for you,” the waiter turned to Chanhee expectantly.

“Oh, water’s fine with me,” he said. “I don’t drink wine.”

Kevin froze.  _ Oh right, he’s seen that movie. There goes all of my best jokes.  _

“I’m allergic,” he wrinkled his nose. Truthfully, he just wanted to stay sober around the only person in town capable of stuffing him into a tiny wooden box, but also what vampire on earth turns down the opportunity to say they don’t drink  _ wine?  _ Not Chanhee, that’s who.

The waiter returned with a glass of wine for Kevin, and they waited patiently for their dinner. The food could not get their fast enough.

“You look nice,” Kevin said quietly, not really looking at him. 

“Thanks,” Chanhee said. “I felt like if you threw water on me again, it would blend in with the fabric.”

Kevin looked horrified. 

Chanhee laughed and waved his hand.

“I’m just joking! I wasn’t upset at all! It was really funny! Where did you get holy water??,” his asked a little louder and more panicky than he meant to.  _ Nailed it. _

Kevin swallowed, wide-eyed. “Ebay.”

Chanhee blinked. “They sell holy water on ebay?”

“Yeah, you can buy anything on ebay” Kevin looked around. “I wonder when our food is going to get here?”

Chanhee had succeeded in mentioning the vampire hunter shaped elephant in the room, but now he had to gain Kevin’s trust somehow.

“That’s so interesting,” he said, leaning in. He lowered his voice. “What made you buy that?”

Kevin took a gulp of wine. “For protection.”

“From vampires?” Chanhee made himself look as clueless and fascinated as he could. He deserved an Oscar.

Kevin nodded. 

“So you’re like a, what, a vampire enthusiast?” 

The waiter brought two plates of pasta. If he heard what they were talking about, he didn’t get paid enough to care to react. This was probably normal date small talk.

Kevin didn’t answer his question, but instead focused on the pasta before them. He piled a serving onto Chanhee’s plate before his own. As much as Chanhee loved being waited on hand and foot, he would not lose this opportunity to find out as much information as possible. 

He took a few bites to play it cool as if he was actually there to eat bland human food covered in parsley. Kevin twirled his fork in his noodles idly.

“Why were you carrying it around?”

“Carrying what around?”

“The holy water you threw on me…”

“Oh, that,” He patted his mouth with a cloth napkin. “I’m a vampire hunter.”

 

So there it was. Sure, he suspected it, but unless it’s confirmed you just have to call whatever you have a bad cold. He was going to have to take care of this little problem himself to keep everyone else safe, but first he needed to find out information no other vampire in the world would ever get the chance to squeeze out of a hunter.

“So,” he said, casually. “How did you get into the whole vampire hunting thing?”

“I hate them.”

Chanhee swallowed and went back to his pasta to think. He suddenly realized that maybe he was in the presence of a victim who had once suffered a horrible tragedy at the hands of some out of control, hot headed, vagrant vampire. His heart ached.

They weren’t all like that anymore. In fact, thanks to Chanhee, no one had ever died from a vampire attack in the city since they founded Nightbrook. They were a progressive clan! Sunwoo owned a Nintendo Switch! Kevin had nothing to worry about.

He reached out and placed his hand gently on Kevin’s for support. “I’m so sorry. Did something bad happen to you when you were little? Did a bad vampire kill your parents or something?” 

“No, nothing like that,” Kevin said. “My family lives in Canada.”

Chanhee pulled his hand away. “Oh. So why then?”

“I just think they’re ugly.”

Chanhee’s headache was coming back.

“They’re these disgusting, blood sucking demons who want nothing more than to sink their nasty teeth into innocent people and enslave them for their foul, perverted, vampyric means.”

_ Wow, tell me how you really feel.  _

“They can’t all be bad though, right?”  _ Look at how pretty I am! Are you blind! _

Kevin shook his head. “The movies want you to think that they’re these sexy vegetarians, but it’s a lie. I’ve seen them.”

“You have? Where?”

“In my dreams,” he said, matter of factly. “I can’t explain how, but I’ve been having these nightmares ever since I was a kid and I know it’s my destiny to kill them.”

Chanhee nodded slowly.

“Sorry, that was intense,” Kevin said. “You were so nice to come on this date and forgive me for ruining your fancy shirt, and here I am making things weird.”

“No! I asked! It’s totally okay!” Chanhee said, unsure if he had actually forgiven him for throwing water on him or not. “I think it’s really interesting?”

“You do?”

“Of course,” he lied. “It’s  _ cool.” _

Kevin smiled. “I’m really glad you think so.”

“Of course,” Chanhee smiled through a throbbing headache. 

“I’ve never told anyone before…” Kevin said quietly. “I just feel so comfortable with you.”

Chanhee’s heart fluttered. For a psychopath, he was really cute and charming, he thought. It would be a great idea if they spent more time together. For research. 

“I wanna come with you!”

“Come with me,” Kevin asked, confused.

“I wanna go vampire hunting with you!”

“Really?” He smiled.

“Yeah, it sounds like fun! We could do it together!” He said, out of his  _ damn  _ mind. “Let’s start tomorrow night!”

“Okay,” Kevin said, looking so cute and happy that Chanhee thought he might throw up. Now he just had to finish his completely normal date with the overcooked pasta and the stale water with the fresh baked bread. Maybe they could order dessert and take too long getting home. They were going to get to spend so much time together.

_ Oh my god, I’m an idiot. _


	4. Bad Books for Bad Boys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chanhee seeks out the main witch in town to get to the bottom of this hunter situation.

On the outside it was just a bookshop. It was brick and stone with traces of paint from an old mural someone threw up ages ago. It was the only organic looking building in their neighborhood because it had always been there.  _ He  _ had always been there.

Chanhee stood just out front under a streetlight, considering it. It was the only place in Nightbrook that wasn’t his and where he wasn’t openly welcome. It was also the only place in Nightbrook where he wasn’t comfortable barging in on his own whims.

He grabbed the handle and pulled. A bell chimed for customers. Was he a customer? Was he there to purchase not goods but information? What would be his price?

He stepped forward, cautious of the way the heel of his boot scuffed the floor. The line of salt and brick dust scattered beneath his step. He was welcome and unregarded. 

The bookshop that wasn’t really a bookshop smelled, well, like books but also dust, herbs, candle wax, and poison. There was also the faint sound of a cello that played through the shop at all times which may or may not have been from a radio. On the inside, time was frozen in spider webs and mysterious glass bottles mounted on the walls.

Towards the core of it, Chanhee heard voices, laughter even. He straightened himself and fixed his hair. He wouldn’t dare let them know he was in any way creeped out.

First he saw Jacob on a stool, his elbows propped on the counter. He was unabashedly all eyes for the shop owner. Chanhee wasn’t sure who was older, himself or Sangyeon. The fossil did an excellent job of hiding his age to the point that he had made poor, clueless Jacob swoon for him.

Sunwoo was looking at the books as if he could read any of them. The texts were handwritten in languages and dialects that died centuries ago. He was sure Sangyeon only kept them for posterity. He probably couldn’t read them either.

Chanhee approached them quietly.

“Ah,” Sangyeon said. “You’re the reason I had to keep my shop open all night.”

“Thank you for meeting me,” Chanhee said, carefully. He hated formalities.

“Sunwoo and Jacob filled me in on everything. Are you sure he’s a vampire hunter?”

Sunwoo stopped what he was doing and came over. He took a seat next to Jacob. Chanhee also had to be careful for Sunwoo’s sake. They had to keep each other safe.

“So you know about the incident…”

“Yes, how he doused you with water, go on,” Sangyeon smirked. 

_ Why I outta…  _ Chanhee cleared his throat. “You know with movies these days, people can have wild imaginations, but I wanted to make sure he was the real deal so I met with him privately.”

“On a date,” Sunwoo corrected.

“It was not a date!” Chanhee glared. “Anyways, I did a little recon, and I think he’s the real thing.”

Sangyeon’s eyes widened. “Are you positive?”

“First he tried testing me by feeding me a whole bunch of garlic.”

“Yes, we can smell you from here,” Sunwoo interrupted. 

Jacob wrinkled his nose. “You smell like you slept on a pizza.”

“Thank you,” he said sharply to them both. “May I finish?”

Sangyeon put a hand on Jacob’s shoulder. Chanhee wondered if he was telling him to be quiet. No one told his kids to be quiet. Jacob reached up and put his hand on Sangyeon’s.  _ Right, they’re a thing.  _ He shuttered.  _ Gross. _

“As I was saying, he tested me again with the garlic, and I seized the opportunity with my adept skills of stealth and espionage to ask him more about his hobby.”

“Anything weird? Were his parents killed by vampires?” Sangyeon asked, making some notes on a sheet of paper.

“Nope,” Chanhee said. “He said he just started having dreams about vampires and became obsessed with ‘ridding the world of these carnivorous beasts’.”

Sunwoo frowned. “If anyone fits that description, it’s Jacob, not us.”

“Hey!” Jacob said, frowning. “I’ve never…”

Sangyeon cut in before they could get into a contest of which one of them was more dangerous and carnivorous. Not to insert his opinion, but Chanhee thought that it was most definitely Jacob.

“Dreams, you say?” Sangyeon contemplated. “Not like normal nightmares?”

“When he was talking about it he got crazy eyes,” Chanhee said.

“Ah,” Sangyeon said. “So we’re pretty sure he’s a real hunter, but he still went on a date… with you… the most cliched vampire in the world.”

Chanhee blinked. “I don’t know what you mean by that, but I used my many honed skills to disguise myself as one of the humans.”

“Maybe he’s just really bad at his job,” Jacob offered.

“Yeah,” Sunwoo said. “Like Jaehyun.”

A loud, disgruntled “ya!” reverberated from the back on the shop. Sangyeon sighed. Jaehyun was known to be the worst witch he had ever apprenticed.

“Sorry!” Sunwoo called out. “Didn’t know you were back there!”

“Yes, you did,” Jacob said.

Sunwoo grinned. Chanhee sighed.

Jaehyun stomped into the group, covered in a shimmering purple dust with a sour expression on his face. Sangyeon looked like he was going to ask what Jaehyun had gotten himself into, but shook his head instead.

Chanhee rubbed his temple. “I’ve had this damn headache since yesterday.”

“I didn’t know vampires could get headaches,” Sangyeon said, making another note.

“Neither did I…” 

“Is it possible that Kevin the Vampire Hunter poisoned you,” Sangyeon continued to jot down his thoughts.

“I think it’s just stress,” Sunwoo said. “You know, since his  _ boyfriend _ is going to try to murder all of us and mount our heads on his mantle.”

“He’s not my– listen, you.”

“Do you feel stressed,” Sangyeon asked. He grabbed Chanhee’s face and looked into his eyes and reached into his mouth for his tongue.

Chanhee jerked away, swatting. 

“Does it look like I’m stressed???” He shouted.

“Yes,” everyone said in unison. 

Chanhee grabbed a stool and rested on the counter. He felt like he was going to boil over from frustration.  _ I’m surrounded by idiots.  _

Sangyeon went to his shelves and pulled out several volumes. The leather bindings smelled like animal blood and mold. Chanhee’s stomach churned. 

Even Sunwoo looked like he was going to throw up all over the place. He hopped up out of his seat and pressed his back against the wall.

“Oh, right,” Sangyeon said. “Jaehyun go dampen two hankerchiefs with lavender and eucalyptus oils.”

Jaehyun scurried to the back.

“LAVENDER AND EUCALYPTUS!” Sangyeon called out. He swore under his breath. If Chanhee wasn’t so nauseous, he might have laughed. 

Hyunjae returned with two wet cloths for the sick vampires. Chanhee covered his face with it and breathed the oils in, feeling himself relax.

Sunwoo slumped down to the ground. 

Sangyeon tossed something at Jaehyun. “What did I tell you?!”

Jaehyun pouted. “Serves him right.”

“Jacob, will you be a dear and take Sunwoo outside for some fresh air,” Sangyeon rubbed his own temples. “If he doesn’t wake up in five minutes, come get me.”

Jacob carried an unconscious Sunwoo outside while Jaehyun slipped back into the back of store out of sight.

“I’ll kill him for that,” Chanhee warned, half heartedly.

“Not if I get to him first.” 

Chanhee continued to breathe in the cloth that protected him from the noxious fumes. 

“These are hunter diaries,” Sangyeon explained. “They’re protected with a sort of natural vampire repellent to protect their secrets. Like for cockroaches.”

Chanhee glared. “Was that necessary?”

Sangyeon smiled to himself and continued, “It’s potent, but rather lazy. They don’t bother with magical seals, because they think that vampires are so horrible that a witch would never  _ volunteer _ to help one out. These volumes are several centuries old, so the elixir wouldn’t knock you out like it would have back when the books were written. Any vampire dumb enough to get his hands on a hunter’s diary would fall ill almost instantaneously just to be staked by its owner.”

“Got it. I’m not allowed to read the stinky book.”

“You probably couldn’t anyway.” Sangyeon pulled back the cover. The parchment pages stuck together, tacked by an amber colored sap. He grimaced. “ _ Gross _ .”

“What is that?” Chanhee asked, curious and nervous.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I’ll need to wash my hands and put on some gloves in case it’s toxic.”

Sangyeon left to clean himself up. 

The book was open in front of Chanhee on the bookshop counter. He leaned forward to get a glimpse of the page. The text was handwritten in ink, but the author wrote in waves across the page instead of horizontally or vertically. The pages were covered in scattered notes and drawings that he couldn’t understand.

It was true that he spent his eternity enjoying the finer things in life instead of cooped up in a library memorizing a bunch of ancient languages, but still, one tends to pick up a few things after a while. He knew a bit of something in every language, even if that something was just the naughty words, but this, this was incomprehensible. 

Jacob came back inside the shop, followed by a very dizzy Sunwoo. Sunwoo steadied himself against the counter before getting a whiff of the hunter’s diary. He retched.

“Jacob, how familiar are you with Sangyeon’s shop,” Chanhee said, pressing his own cloth to Sunwoo’s face. He took careful breaths not to inhale too much of the book. 

“Pretty decently,” Jacob said. “Why? Where’s Sangyeon?” 

“He had to wash his hands,” he said. “Can you get one of those lavender and eucalyptus rags without the poison?”

“Sure thing,” Jacob went to leave but stopped himself. “How do I know which ones are those?”

“You can’t sniff them out?”

“Right…”

“Don’t bother,” Sangyeon said, returning from removing the gunk from his hands. He handed a fresh rag to Sunwoo. “If you breathe in the wrong bottle, you could hurt yourself.”

Sunwoo took a deep breath and relaxed. He handed the fresh rag to Chanhee, keeping the older one. 

“Jacob, don’t you think it’s a little weird that your boyfriend is keeping wolf poison around,” Sunwoo said, muffled by the cloth.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Jacob mumbled.

“There’s a lot of that going around,” Sunwoo said.

“It’s for research,” Sangyeon said, not at all bothered by their comments. “Back to it then.”

Sangyeon sat before the hunter’s journal with black latex gloves on his hands. The runes tattooed on his wrists barely stuck out from beneath the edges. He was careful not to touch the page as he scanned the text.

“What does it say,” Chanhee asked, impatient.

“I– I’m not sure,” Sangyeon said. “It’s written in code. It could take months to translate.”

“We don’t have months,” Chanhee warned.

Sunwoo came closer, the cloth snug over his mouth and nose. “Have you tried turning it upside down?”

“Upside down,” Sangyeon laughed, incredulous. “That’s ridi—.”

Sunwoo grabbed the book and spun it around. The sap clung to his fingers. He shrieked and grabbed his hand. It burned through his fingertips like acid.

“Shit!” Sangyeon jumped up. “Grab him!”

Jacob threw a crying, flailing Sunwoo over his shoulder. They ran to the back of the shop followed by Chanhee whose face was pale in horror.

Sangyeon grabbed a hanging herb and crushed it in one hand. He took Sunwoo’s fingers and wrapped his fist around them. Sunwoo gasped for air, but calmed down as the pain subsided.

“What was that?” Chanhee demanded.

“The anti vampire juice they coated the book with must have coagulated over time,” Sangyeon said, wrapping Sunwoo’s fingers in an herbed bandage. “He got a concentrated dose from the sap.”

Sunwoo held his bandaged hand. His face was long and any trace of mischief left in him had been drained.

If this one hunter’s diary was any indication of what Kevin was capable of, Chanhee wasn’t sure he would be able to take care of it by himself.

 


	5. Sticky Pages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chanhee and Sangyeon continue their quest to translate the hunter’s diary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since today (7-22) is my birthday, I wanted to get this chapter up for you folks earlier than usual. Thanks for reading!

Chanhee and Sangyeon were alone.

Jacob took Sunwoo home who was more emotionally wounded than physically. Sangyeon had mentioned treating his burns, but Sunwoo insisted he was fine. 

Jaehyun sneaked out the back of the store after poisoning Sunwoo earlier without considering the consequences of pissing off two vampires at the same time while causing his teacher more problems than were worth intervening over.

Sangyeon closed the bookshop from the outside only leaving a lamp on over his desk that beamed down on the hunter’s journal. They sat across from each other. Chanhee pressed the cloth to his face and breathed in the oils Sangyeon doused it with to protect him from the book. After this, he swore to himself he’d never step foot in a flower shop or a night spa ever again. Sangyeon rolled out a leather pouch onto the table with his investigative tools such as a large pair of forceps and a magnifying glass.

“What’s the diagnosis, doc?” Chanhee joked.

Sangyeon smirked. “You can never be too careful with a book full of booby traps.” 

Sangyeon put on a pair of reading glasses and scanned the pages that were left open from before.

“Huh,” he said.

“What is it,” Chanhee asked, muffled.

“Sunwoo may have been on to something,” Sangyeon said. With gloved hands, he spun the book around. “Look at this.”

Chanhee hovered over the pages, careful not to get too close. “I don’t see anything.”

“Look closer.”

Chanhee eyed him suspiciously. Sangyeon blinked. Once he realized why Chanhee was looking at him like he had lost his mind, Sangyeon passed him the magnifying glass.

Chanhee peered through it, still not seeing what Sangyeon wanted him to. Sangyeon took a metal pocket pointer from his tool pouch and tapped the page. 

“You see these compasses?” Sangyeon pointed.

“What about them?”

“There’s a compass in each corner, and they’re all pointed in a different direction,” Sangyeon explained. “I think if we turn the book in these directions, I can can crack the code.”

Chanhee was starting to understand, but even if they could see the picture, how were they supposed to read it? 

Sangyeon seemed to be thinking the same thing, too, but the first step was to see the picture before they could break it apart.

Sangyeon turned the book back to himself. The compass in the corner pointed to the west. Sangyeon turned the book to the left.

“Alright,” he said. “So the first part of the puzzle will probably be this way.”

He pulled out his notebook and started making notes. It would take weeks to copy every page four times at this rate.

Chanhee pulled out his cellphone and cleared his throat. He reached over and took a picture of the page.

Sangyeon turned the book in the order of the other three compasses. 

“Can I see your phone?”

“Don’t go through the pictures,” he said. “They’re private.”

Sangyeon made a disgusted expression.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he ignored the question. 

Sangyeon removed his gloves and looked at the pictures of the pages. He tried zooming it, but it was too much of a hassle on the tiny screen.

“Do you have a tablet or a laptop,” Chanhee suggested.

Sangyeon shook his head. “I don’t like to use too much of today’s technology. It gets in the way.”

Chanhee rolled his eyes. “Listen, grandpa. You’re not going to get radiation poisoning from an iPad.”

Sangyeon frowned, embarrassed . “Jacob has one.”

“Do you want to call him or do you want me to?” 

Sangyeon sighed. He pulled out a flip phone and called Jacob. 

“Hey,” he said into his ancient cellphone. “Can we borrow your iPod thing for a while?”

Sangyeon finished his conversation and told Chanhee he’d be back in a minute.

In the meantime, Chanhee sent the pictures of the pages to Jacob’s tablet to save time. Afterwards, Chanhee and Sangyeon stepped out in front of the shop for fresh air.

The streets were empty and there was probably no one around to hear what he had to say, but it was still humiliating. “Thank you for helping me.”

“A vampire can say thank you?” Sangyeon teased. “I will  _ have  _ to write this down.”

“We can let it slip out once a century. You’ll have to wait 99 more years to get another one.”

Sangyeon raised his mug, “I’ll toast to that.”

“Let me ask you something,” Sangyeon continued. “Why are you doing this?”

“I shouldn’t tell you,” Chanhee said. “After all, it would be too advantageous for you to know my secrets, but I have to keep my kids safe.”

“So you’re  _ dating _ the thing that wants to kill them,” Sangyeon questioned him.

“I also gave the other  _ thing _ that wants to kill them a key to my house,” Chanhee said.

Sangyeon’s face turned red.

“Speak of the devil,” Chanhee said with a wave. 

Jacob trotted towards them in a t-shirt and shorts with an iPad tucked against his chest. 

“Sorry it took so long,” Jacob said, out of breath. “I had to find the charger.”

Sangyeon took it from him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “You should have worn a coat. It’s freezing outside.”

“I don’t mind it,” Jacob said. “Can I stay and watch you guys work?”

Chanhee and Sangyeon eyed each other.

“Sure,” they said at the same time. 

Jacob’s face lit up. He headed inside to make himself a cup of coffee. 

Chanhee couldn’t wait until this was over with so he could go back to enjoying his eternity on the unconditional patience of others. 

He followed Jacob inside. The book stench hit him as soon as he opened the door. He gagged. Jacob sat at the table sipping his coffee with a spare mug on the table. Ice cubes floated at the top and a straw poked out.

“I made you one too,” Jacob said. “That’s Sunwoo’s job, right?”

Chanhee slid the straw under his cloth and slurped the lukewarm coffee. “I wouldn’t say it’s his job. He does it out of the kindness of the heart.”

“Oh,” Jacob said. “Me too then.”

Jacob looked past Chanhee. Sangyeon hadn’t come in yet.

“Hey, can you do me a favor,” he said quietly. “Can you talk to him for me?”

“So  _ that’s  _ why you made me coffee,” Chanhee said dramatically. “Jacob, I’m hurt!”

“Shh!” Jacob pleaded. “I’m only asking because you’re my friend, but can you tell Sangyeon he doesn’t have to be embarrassed about me? I know that I’m like probably gross to you guys, but I like him a lot. It kind of hurts my feelings when people treat me differently because of my condition...”

Chanhee frowned. The shop doorbell chimed, and the conversation was over. Sangyeon came in and took his seat across from them. 

“Can we get rid of the book for a while?” Chanhee asked, dizzy from the oils. 

Sangyeon closed the book, careful of the sap on the pages. He placed it back on the shelf, and Chanhee could feel the air returning to normal. He removed his cloth and relaxed, finally able to enjoy his coffee but still through a straw because why should he stain his teeth for no reason? 

They placed the iPad on the table where the book was. Sangyeon examined the screen. 

“How do I make notes,” he asked.

“You can just use your finger,” Jacob demonstrated. He circles one of the glyphs.

“Ah!” Sangyeon said, delighted.

“That stick thing on the side of it works like a pencil too.”

Sangyeon pulled on it. The magnet released and he clapped. “This is so cool.”

“You are  _ wasting  _ my time,” Chanhee said, annoyed. He tapped his nails on the counter which had grown a whole millimeter since they were sitting there taking forever.

Sangyeon squinted at him. “Since you clearly have somewhere more important to be, you translate it.”

Chanee waved his hands and laughed nervously. “No sense of humor! I’m only brightening the mood!”

“I’m glad you’re just joking since we both know I can make this take so long you’d have to just wait for Kevin to die of old age before I tell you what it says,” Sangyeon said, with a blank smile.

Chanhee sucked his teeth. “Please, continue as you were.”

“Thank you.”

Jacob cleared his throat. “Like I was saying, you can use this pencil to draw and write if you don’t want to use your finger.”

Jacob taught Sangyeon how to zoom in and out and change pages. Chanhee had to admit to himself that it was kind of cute in an elderly assistance sort of way. This must have been how it felt to volunteer at a nursing home. 

 

Once Sangyeon got the hang of it, he breezed through the hunter’s puzzle. Chanhee was so bored he couldn’t stand it. He hopped up from his seat to go explore the shop. 

With most of the lights off, the book store went from creepy to downright spooky. Everything was covered in dust and spiderwebs, and it was disgusting. He could see why Sangyeon had boxes of rubber gloves in storage. 

The bottles on the wall were the most interesting. Their liquids made a rainbow of tones against the brick, and they were labeled with new printed stickers and some with old faded tags on twine. Chanhee wondered if that magic youth juice Sangyeon drank was up there somewhere. What would happen if a vampire drank magic youth juice? Could he go out in the sun again? Chanhee shook himself. Those were dumb thoughts for losers who couldn’t handle being a fabulous, beautiful, prince of the night. He flipped his hair. Even in this dusty witch hovel, he was all of those things. Except for the loser part. He was most definitely not a loser.

“Chanhee!” Sangyeon called out.

Chanhee jumped, startled. “What!”

“Come over here!”

Chanhee went back to the center of the store where Sangyeon and Jacob reviewed the iPad full of hunter’s notes. 

“It’s going to take me a while to translate this,” he said. “But we figured out the code.”

“Was it that easy?” Chanhee said, surprised.

“Yeah,” Sangyeon said. “It looks like this hunter was an idiot. We probably lucked out.”

Chanhee flared his nostrils, wondering if that was a common trair amongst them. “Thanks for your help.”

Sangyeon packed up his things and stretched. “I’ll let Jacob know when I have everything ready. In the meantime, try not to get yourself skewered or barbecued.”

Chanhee crossed his arms. “So are we done here?”

“For now,” he said.

 

They parted ways. 

Chanhee returned to his penthouse apartment and prepared himself a bubble bath to relax. Against the whole point of relaxing, he spent an hour sorting through his stash of bath bombs, salts, soaps, and other bubble bath essentials searching for anything at all that wasn’t scented. If someone so much as thought if bringing lavender or eucalyptus into his apartment, he would burn the whole building down with them still inside. 

He dialed back his rage and  finally submerged himself in the hot water to simmer away his stress like a lobster. His vampire rubber ducky bobbed on top of the surface. He reached out and hit a switch that activated jets in all the right places.

Try as he might, nothing felt like it was supposed to. He couldn’t help but think that whatever information Sangyeon could extract from the diaries would either be his salvation or the end of Nightbrook. 

_ God, this is interesting. _

 


	6. A Second Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chanhee goes out with Kevin again to join him on one of his hunts, but all he gets is more proof that Kevin is a terrible vampire hunter.

After the sun set, Chanhee met with Kevin who agreed to bring him vampire hunting with him after their spaghetti date. Was it a terrible idea? Of course. Was he going anyways.  _ Of course. _

He met Kevin at his rundown car that looked like it had been thrown away in a giant used car lot dumpster, not sure how he managed to make it run without the tires falling off. Kevin popped the trunk and revealed his cache of vampire killing toys.

“We need some supplies,” he said seriously, scanning over his weapon hoard. 

“What kind of supplies?” Chanhee was curious. Even more curious once he noticed what looked to be like grenades strapped to the inside.

Kevin unrolled a brown leather tool pack similar to the one Sangyeon used with different sized stakes holstered inside. Chanhee stepped back, very aware of what those stakes could do to him.

“Here,” Kevin held out the sharpened wooden dagger.

Chanhee jumped. “No, thanks! I’m good!”

The tip was pointed at his chest, and he thought if he breathed wrong, it would plunge itself into his heart as if possessed.

“You need to protect yourself,” Kevin insisted.

Chanhee laughed nervously. “Can’t  _ you _ protect me?  _ Put that down, please.” _

Kevin lowered the stake and frowned. “This is serious. If a vampire comes for you, you could really get hurt.”

“What if,” Chanhee thought, quick on his feet. “You used me as bait! Just before it bites my smooth and flawless neck, you can save me!”

He rubbed the skin of his own neck with the back of his hand for emphasis. Kevin considered it. “I suppose you do look weak and helpless enough to be used as bait.”

Chanhee gritted his teeth.

“Come on,” Kevin said. “The vampires are this way.”

Kevin was walking away from Nightbrook where the vampires most definitely all lived.

“Are they? Are you sure?”

“Yeah, come on!”

 

Chanhee crossed his arms and pouted. For a second date, he was absolutely not fond of sitting on a slab of cold granite in the middle of a cemetery, but there they were. Kevin paced back and forth like a panther dressed in black, and Chanhee sat with his legs crossed on some dead guy’s headstone.

“How long do we have to stay here,” Chanhee whined. 

“I know you don’t know anything about vampires, but this is where they sleep. We’ve gotta wait for them to wake up and crawl out of their coffins.”

“Right,” Chanhee tapped his long nails on the headstone. He was going to have to take this opportunity to seduce him one way or another. “Well, while we’re waiting, tell me more about yourself.”

“Shh! I hear something!”

A twig snapped in the near distance. The hair on Chanhee’s neck stood up. Was Kevin right? Were there vampires there? What would he do? He wasn’t armed!  _ You’re a vampire, idiot. _ He shook himself. 

Kevin’s fingers wrapped around the stake and he held it tightly ready to stab, and Chanhee was a little turned on.  _ If Sunwoo ever found out about this, he would never let me live it down, but man that’s hot. _

“What are you doing here this late,” an old man said, waving a lantern at them. “The cemetery is off limits after hours.”

Kevin held the stake behind his back, startled by the interruption. “Uhhh…”

“We were just out here trying to get some alone time,” Chanhee stepped forward, twirling his hands in a theatrical way. “You know how kids are these days.”

The old man blushed and waved him off. “I know how it is! When I was your age, I brought my first sweetie ‘round behind that mausoleum, this way and that.”

The man chuckled and cleared his throat. “Them’s plot owners ‘round here don’t like when their loved ones is disturbed so you’d best get a move on, yep.”

“We were just leaving,” Chanhee said. His icy cold hand grabbed Kevin’s (the stakeless one). “Weren’t we?”

“Huh?” He said in a daze. “Ah, yeah, we were just leaving.”

Chanhee lead Kevin away from the cemetery, glad they had been caught because if he stayed there all night, he would have had to plunge the stake into his own heart himself because he was so _ bored _ .

They walked around the outskirts of Nightbrook. For some reason, Kevin was convinced that the inner part of the neighborhood wouldn’t have any vampires at all. It was convenient, but it was frustrating.

“Tell me about yourself,” Chanhee tried again. Kevin was lost in thought.

He shook his head. “No, it’s your turn. Tell me about you. What are your parents like?”

“My parents,” he started, considering how to handle questions about his ancient past. “Died a long time ago.”

“I’m sorry,” Kevin said, quietly.

“It’s fine,” he said with a light chuckle. “It feels like several lifetimes ago.”

“I can’t imagine,” he said, empathizing. “How long have you been a bartender?”

“A what?” Chanhee looked at him, bewildered. Kevin stared back with a blank expression. “Oh! A bartender! Right! I’ve just been… dabbling… here and there.”

“Oh,” Kevin said, not really understanding which was for the best because if Kevin kept asking questions like that, Chanhee was going to have to go get a real job like some kind of working class animal. 

They wandered around for the rest of the night searching for vampires and talking. Chanhee wasn’t able to be honest about himself once the whole night, but it was fine. It wouldn’t do him any good to be honest with him anyway. If he felt like unloading his feelings he would just go hassle Sunwoo.

He checked his watch and was running out of time before the sun came up again. “Wow, would you look at the time! I have to get going!”

“So soon?” Kevin yawned. “We barely just started.”

Chanhee kissed him on the cheek to seal their next meeting. “Same place and time tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Kevin rubbed the warmth back into his cheek. “Sounds great.”

 

“Hoo, that was boring,” Chanhee said, slamming the door of his apartment behind him. He ran his fingers through his gelled hair, exhausted from so much needless walking.

Sunwoo was on the couch as expected playing a video game. Jacob wasn’t there. He was probably with Sangyeon or in bed asleep. Did werewolves sleep? He had never bothered to ask.

“Sup, boss,” Sunwoo said, hopping over to make space for Chanhee.

“‘Boss’,” Chanhee mocked. “What do you want?”

“Nothing,” he said. “I was just trying it out to see how it sounded.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Me neither.”

Chanhee snorted. He went and got a couple of beers from the fridge. “I am so tired.”

“Tired?” Sunwoo set the controller down. “How?”

“I never thought dating a vampire hunter could be so  _ painfully dull,”  _ Chanhee popped the can tab and slurped the top. “Did you know he thinks we sleep in graveyards?”

“Like in coffins? Underground?”

“Yep,” Chanhee scoffed.

“How would that work? Would we have to dig ourselves out every night and bury ourselves again before the next day?”

“It seems so,” he passed Sunwoo the other beer. 

Sunwoo laughed. “I can’t imagine you sticking your hands in the dirt on purpose.”

“I’ll have you know that I have fought in at least seven wars,” Chanhee grumbled.

“Eating the wounded doesn’t count.”

Chanhee raised an arm to smack him but decided against it. Sunwoo smiled cheekily and resumed his game.

“So I take it you’re not seeing him again?” Sunwoo asked, eyes on the screen. He had a bowl of popcorn in his lap, and Chanhee was going to kill him if he let any spill into the cushions of his couch. 

Chanhee reached over and stole a handful of popcorn, covering his fingers in artificial butter. “I’m seeing him again tomorrow night, actually.”

“What?” Sunwoo almost choked. “Haven’t you just proven that he’s not dangerous? Just edit a Wikipedia article that says all the vampires moved to the sea to join the jellyfish, and he’ll be out of your hair forever.”

“It’s not that simple,” Chanhee said. Sunwoo raised his eyebrow. “He has a trunk full of stakes, and he almost took out a groundsman.”

“And?”

“What do you mean ‘and’?”

_ “And…” _

“And I like him,” Chanhee sighed. “I find his  _ outlook _ on life endearing.”

“So you think he’s an idiot,” Sunwoo said with a mouthful of popcorn.

“He's still dangerous,” Chanhee explained. “He has this inexplicable chaotic energy about him that I will have to further investigate.”

“Oh, this is so _ sad _ .”

“How’s Eric?” Chanhee changed the subject, causing Sunwoo to choke. 

“That is  _ completely  _ different,” Sunwoo said. 

“How? Kevin is a human. Eric is a human. Even Sangyeon is kind of a human!” 

“Only one of us wants to date someone who was literally born to hunt us down and kill us.”

“Born to hunt us,” Chanhee said. “Did you talk to Sangyeon? Did he translate the journal? What did it say? What did he find out? Are there more hunters out there?

He snatched the controller from Sunwoo’s hand, almost knocking the bowl of popcorn over.

“Easy! I haven’t talked to him! I was just guessing!”

Chanhee relaxed. Or he tried to. He jumped up off of the couch, unable to sit still. “We need to come up with a plan.”

Morning was around the corner, but if he made enough calls, he was sure some of their other friends around Nightbrook would still be awake or possibly be starting their days. With enough people on board, he could keep Kevin occupied  _ and  _ get closer to him. But first, he needed to recruit Sunwoo to his master plan.

“What kind of plan…”

Chanhee smirked. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Writing this has been a whole lot of fun. I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
